Defiant Pelosi scorns Republicans

HEALTH CARE

Carla Marinucci, Chronicle Political Writer

Published 4:00 am, Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Photo: Eric Risberg, AP

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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi applauds while joining community leaders and health reform advocates to celebrate the passage of health insurance reform legislation at a senior center in San Francisco, Monday, March 29, 2010. less

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi applauds while joining community leaders and health reform advocates to celebrate the passage of health insurance reform legislation at a senior center in San Francisco, Monday, March ... more

Photo: Eric Risberg, AP

Defiant Pelosi scorns Republicans

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Buoyed by adoring supporters in her home district, Nancy Pelosi scorned her Republican critics Monday, saying they "have nothing to sell" to the American people except a crude caricature of her as the midterm elections approach.

Pelosi, D-San Francisco, was surrounded at the Phillip and Sala Burton Center by ardent advocates of health reform, who cheered when she was cheerful and roared when she was defiant. And she was proudly defiant.

"I could care less," she said of GOP efforts to use her as campaign fundraising bait. "I should be thanking them. ... It really helps me with my fundraising."

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The House speaker's appearance marked the second in two days in San Francisco to talk up the reforms of the health care law - and it came on the eve of President Obama's planned signing today of supplemental "fixes" to his sweeping legislation at a ceremony in Alexandria, Va.

"This is a bill about the middle class. This is a bill about small businesses. This is a bill about affordability," Pelosi said.

Still, Pelosi warned Democrats that the fight isn't over, saying Republicans "are unabashed in wanting to rid us of this ... and one way they think they can do it is by making gross misrepresentations to senior citizens" with what she called a "campaign of fear."

Appearing before a crowd dominated by seniors carrying signs of appreciation - "Thank you, madame speaker" - Pelosi was lauded by a parade of admirers, including Rep. George Miller, D-Martinez, doctors and senior advocates who praised her tireless push for the measure.

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin last weekend put Pelosi and Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid at the center of her campaign-style speech to Tea Partiers attending a rally in Searchlight, Nev., Reid's hometown. "You're fired," she said of the two Democratic standard-bearers.

Pelosi was asked Monday about the GOP strategy to put her out front in their election efforts.

"It's so unimportant to me that I don't have time to think about it," she said. "They tried it in 2006. They tried it in 2008. It just shows the bankruptcy of their ideas. ... They have nothing to sell ... (except) fear to seniors."

Pelosi's comments come as a new Washington Post poll shows that national views of her have been largely unaffected by the passage of the health care bill. And, as Monday's event in San Francisco demonstrated, the poll also showed she is reaping enthusiastic rewards with her core constituency.

The poll found a slight negative tilt in public perception of Pelosi, with 42 percent approving of the way she is handling her job as speaker and 46 percent disapproving - numbers that are largely unchanged from a Post-ABC News poll in January. It also found Pelosi's positive image bolstered among Democrats, liberals and supporters of the health care reform package.

The latest poll showed that approval of the president's handling of health care reform climbed to 48 percent - up five points - following passage of the bill last week. And the ranks of those who said they had strong approval for Obama's handling of health care rose nine percentage points, to 33 percent - though a plurality, 43 percent, still expressed strong disapproval.

And a majority of Americans, 54 percent, now say Obama has brought needed change to Washington - a boost from 50 percent in January, the poll found.

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